In the beige.

So, today I'm subbing at perhaps the most unremarkable school I've ever been in. There just seems to be no life here. I think it's probably an incredibly boring place to be whether you're a teacher or a student, but at the same time it's far preferable to some of the places I've been to so far. You know the schools I'm talking about--the ones which are practically in flames. I'm beginning to think that I'm permanently jaded, and that I will never really find a good school to be in because I hate both chaos and absolute order in the classroom. I don't know if I've ever really seen a school that I liked for long enough to determine whether it was a place I'd want to work...and seeing places for one or two days only just encourages me to make rash judgements about how bad they are. On that note, I'm trying to come up with some unusual indicators of good schools. Here are a few of the ones that I think are most accurate:

1. The worse the art/murals are at a school (the more the kids are involved in making them), the better a school is.
2. The more formal of a bathroom policy that a school has, the better it is.
3. The more computers with internet a school has, the better it is.
4. The better the condition of the student work in the hall, the better the school is (kids don't destroy it).
5. The less physically agressive-seeming a principal is, the better a school is.

Anyway...

I had a discussion with a friend on Saturday about what happens when you run away from where you live to find something else--to find a different way of life. Namely, your old way of life eventually catches up with you. I certainly think that going to LA and Africa would be running away, but at the same time I don't care--I have to get out of places like this. I want to feel some kind of desire to participate in a job somewhere. Because at the moment, no matter what way I slice it, I don't really want a job. None of them seem important or necessary. Particularly not teaching jobs at the schools I've been in.

You've not seen nothing.

You should be listening to Rufus Wainwright's "California" while reading this post. Here's a streaming youtube version of it, so you don't have to go through the trouble.

I am moving out of my apartment with Jonna, and I have found a new apartment with some folks living at 5924 23rd Avenue, in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Pictures and videos are sure to follow shortly.

I am going to Los Angeles in June, to stay with my friend Ben. I'm moving to another part of Brooklyn until I finish my master's degree, and then I'm quitting this city. Seven years would be too much (we're on 6.7 at the moment, by my count).

The plan is to go and hang in California with Ben until we both have enough money to go abroad somewhere else...somewhere more rural, an Arcadia in Africa or Eastern Europe. I would like to go and work on an organic farm, as I had intended to previously with Jonna...it sounds really nice. I don't know that Ben is looking at travelling the same way as me, but no one says we have to go to the same places and do the same things exactly. We're just looking at it togther.

I need to get to these places to do these things that will relax me before I even think about finding a place to stay for another seven years, and be satisfied. I'm not satisfied with my life as it is; there must be more joy in me than I have known so far. As it stands now, the good times are killing me (PLAGARIZED).

There are friends and family already settled where I am going, as always, so I won't be alone. And Ben lives on a mountain, which dissipates the smog issue. And I'm going to do a slug in a ditch of a lot of biking up hills (no car), which will be great exercise. I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, and finally, the name of my blog will mean something again, as I won't be in New York anymore. I've been waiting for that.

Jobs and things.

So, I thought I would just let you know that I'm now working with a tutoring company, Bee Tutored. I've got a bio on the tutors page. Check it out!

Aside from this, I've completed a new comic--this time, for hyperbole. It's been a while, but I'm trying to keep at it.

Eleanor Pwnsevelt

New poem. Also, new project art--I've created a board game! Actually, the image is going on the front of my portfolio. The game board is actually the size of four peieces of computer paper taped together-it's just super small here. I'm applying to work for a non-profite human rights organization. Anyway, Czech it out.

NAKED MATH

Electronic winds whisper

into our ears, and we wink

saying, see

how in tune are we?

We finger number sculptures

and touch our tools constantly.

We build bits of data,

which when stacked turns

into a pleasing picture, and we grin, thinking

how brilliant! Does this image

not imitate nor ironize

perfectly what it is?

Our desires for Oreos have mathematical bases,

as do our desires to uncover these bases. Therefore,

the enjoyment of life is a passive act.

Ancient methods.

I have, at long last, produced a flyer in the hopes of utilising ye olde flyering method of advertisement to get more tutoring jobs. Look upon my ridiculously simple photoshopping works ye mighty, and despair! (Actually, I drew most of it in non-photoblue pencil, inked it, scanned it, then photoshopped it, but that's besides the point.)

Actually, I'm concerned that perhaps it's not serious enough--I tried to make myself seem personable through my advertisement, not some faceless corporation. I wonder if that will help or hinder me. Ah well, I guess we'll see if I get any phone calls...

In the mean time, let me know what you think--leave me a comment.

Also, I have produced some other literary device comics since I last posted. Have a look! I think that this is the first time I've felt so creative in a while:

Alliteration

Foreshadowing

The Masked Offender rides again!

I made this comic. It's the first of a series I plan to do...a comic dictionary of literary terms that I'll try and use as a fundraiser for my trip with Jonna. Let me know if you like it! Yes, I know it needs work. It will be photoshopped, you can bet your sweet bonnet it will.

Time management is for superheroes.

<-- 1. I made a comic. 

       2. I am working on a short story.

       3. I am looking for a job.

       4. I should be doing number 3 more, but really, spend equal time on all of them.

        5. I play video games about ten times as much as 1, 2, or 3.

6. Sophie made a new (actual and in color) comic! You should check it out.